Chapter 1 of 100

Chapter 1

12 min read2,896 words

Dizzy and disoriented, Lin Zaishan felt a ringing in his ears and a spinning in his head.

His mind felt as if a bowl of paste had been spilled inside, his thoughts becoming unbearably thick.

His consciousness was hazy and muddled.

Lin Zaishan felt as if he were about to die.

"Sorry! Sir, I'm sorry..."

A vague woman's voice echoed in his ears.

Lin Zaishan struggled to open his eyes.

The world before him was heavily blurred.

Two indistinct women's faces slowly merged into one, but it was still blurry.

A pair of clear, anxious eyes peered at Lin Zaishan through black-rimmed glasses.

"Son... Yi... Jin?"

Lin Zaishan thought the woman before him looked a lot like the Korean actress Son Ye-jin, but he had no strength to look further and fainted completely.

When he woke up again, he was in the hospital.

"Dad, you're finally awake! I knew it! You must have had too much to drink, you're fine! ... Sniff!"

A thin girl, about 20 years old, threw herself in front of Lin Zaishan, tears welling in her eyes.

A fact reflexively flashed in his mind: This was his daughter—Bai Ge.

Immediately, a strange memory flooded Lin Zaishan's mind.

Am I dreaming?

Or...

Have I traveled through time!

Suddenly, Lin Zaishan realized that something major had happened to him!

He seemed to have traveled to the body of another man named Lin Zaishan in a different timeline!

"Dad, don't scare me! Say something! Do you still recognize me? I'm your daughter, Bai Ge!"

"I recognize you. I'm fine, I just have a headache, cough, cough..."

His head throbbed terribly, and he didn't have time to sort out his thoughts. His throat felt like it was on fire, and Lin Zaishan coughed dryly, asking Bai Ge to get him a glass of water.

"Okay."

Bai Ge obediently got a glass of water for Lin Zaishan and helped him sit up to drink it.

"Dad, do you remember the car accident?"

"I was in a car accident?"

"Of course! Otherwise, why would you be in the hospital! The lady who hit you has already paid for our medical expenses, so we don't have to pay. You can stay in the hospital without worry."

"Okay."

Two sets of memories intertwined, and Lin Zaishan's mind was in chaos.

Bai Ge noticed that Lin Zaishan's reaction was unusually wooden, not as easily angered and irritable as usual, which made her heart tighten.

Staring intently at Lin Zaishan's deep, mature eyes, Bai Ge asked softly, "Dad, if a pancake costs 3 yuan, and I buy 3 pancakes, giving 10 yuan, how much change should I get back?"

Amused by the question, Lin Zaishan reflexively ruffled Bai Ge's little head and said, "1 yuan. I'm not stupid, I'm just a bit tired."

"Thank heaven, thank the goddess! Dad, you're not stupid! You seem even smarter! Hehe!"

Bai Ge laughed happily. Her gentle eyes still shimmered with unshed tears.

Lin Zaishan carefully examined Bai Ge. He suddenly felt that this girl looked a lot like Zhou Dongyu, seemingly delicate and weak, but with a resilient and optimistic spirit.

Bai Ge's phone rang at that moment.

Her ringtone was her late father's hit song "The Wheat Field": "I can't hear your noise, nor see your disturbance. Perhaps the wheat field is a place where you can sow smiles, it taught me to use smiles as the fertilizer of life..."

It was a call from her college classmate, urging her to return to school for an impromptu meeting in the media department, which every student had to attend.

"Dad, I have to go back to school. Stay here, and call me if anything happens. I'll buy you your favorite fried intestine tonight!"

Bai Ge hugged Lin Zaishan affectionately, then grabbed her old canvas bag and rushed out of the ward.

Lin Zaishan was left alone in the ward.

Looking around at the clean and clear ward, Lin Zaishan was overwhelmed with shock.

He bit his wrist hard—pain!

This wasn't a dream!

He had really traveled to a different timeline!

With a heart full of shock, Lin Zaishan tried to organize the new memories in his mind.

This new world was very different from the one he had lived in.

Before the 18th century, this world was the same as the one he had lived in.

In this world, the Qing Dynasty fell more than 100 years earlier than in the original world.

In 1799, during the fourth year of the Jiaqing era, the Qing Dynasty was overthrown, and a new Great Huaxia Dynasty rose to the historical stage.

This Great Huaxia Dynasty did not seem to be created by a time traveler, as it did not make the ancient empire much stronger.

The Chinese Empire still suffered from the oppression of Western powers and the trampling of Japanese invaders during World War II.

The ancient Eastern empire was on the brink of collapse, but the Great Huaxia Dynasty did not fall.

The Great Huaxia royal family has been preserved to this day, though they are no longer the actual rulers of the Chinese Empire.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the rulers of the Great Huaxia Dynasty voluntarily relinquished power, turning the Chinese Empire into a constitutional monarchy, a system that has continued to this day.

However, this seemingly advanced system learned from the West did not make the Chinese Empire much stronger.

In Lin Zaishan's view, the Chinese Empire in this world had a lower international status than the People's Republic of China in the previous world.

However, this was not what Lin Zaishan cared about. What he cared about most was that the copyright protection awareness in the Chinese music industry in this world was even worse than in the previous world!

Lin Zaishan was a musician in his previous life, a graduate of a music conservatory, and he cared deeply about music copyright protection.

However, to his dismay, the environment in the popular music industry in this new world was even more harsh and cruel than in the previous world!

The time in this world was 2007, with a technological level similar to the previous world, and internet companies were rapidly rising.

As the internet became more integrated into people's lives, more and more things became free, and piracy became more rampant.

During the tape and CD era, the popular music industry in this world had already been devastated by piracy. With the advent of the free internet era, the Chinese popular music industry suffered a devastating blow!

This world's Chinese music industry did not produce a transcendent musical genius like Jay Chou, leading the entire industry into a dead and lifeless state. Most musicians were driven out of the industry by hunger, and only a few were still striving for their dreams.

In this era of this world, the number of singers releasing albums had drastically decreased because albums simply did not sell. Even the top-tier singers could only sell 100,000 to 200,000 copies, not enough to cover the costs of production and promotion. Singers released albums purely to gain popularity and then make money through concerts.

The original owner of the body Lin Zaishan had traveled into was also named Lin Zaishan, 37 years old, 5 years older than Lin Zaishan's real age.

This man had a story.

Born in 1970, his parents died early, and he was raised by his grandfather.

This boy was not well-behaved and was a typical troublemaker.

From the early 1980s to the early 1990s, this world experienced a golden age of popular music, with rock music from the West becoming very popular.

Especially in the mid-1980s, the local pop music scene could be called a rock renaissance!

This original Lin Zaishan caught the wave of rock and dropped out of school to form a band at 15.

In 1986, at 16, Lin Zaishan became a sensation across the country with his song "The Wheat Field," becoming a new force in the Chinese music scene and hailed as a rock prodigy!

The largest record company at the time, Arrow Target, signed Lin Zaishan for a large sum and produced a platinum album of the same name, "The Wheat Field."

"The Wheat Field" was the first pure rock album in the history of Chinese popular music to sell over 5 million copies and entered the top ten of the pop album sales chart in 1987.

Lin Zaishan's fame was unparalleled!

However, many geniuses are one-hit wonders, and their most shining moment is often their debut.

Lin Zaishan was a typical example.

For a 17-year-old in the rebellious stage, the sudden wealth and glory made him lose himself.

Like many rockers of the time, Lin Zaishan quickly became addicted to alcohol, drugs, and women after his sudden fame.

His rebellious and uncontrollable nature, his arrogance, and his refusal to listen to anyone led the record company to abandon him, and his talent was exhausted after his first album.

In the following two years, although Lin Zaishan released two more rock albums as per his contract, they received little attention.

Unable to find inspiration, Lin Zaishan gave up, drinking heavily and indulging himself, leading a self-destructive life.

The first album, "The Wheat Field," brought Lin Zaishan over 20 million in wealth.

But by the age of 25, Lin Zaishan had spent all his money and was back to being a penniless man.

However, inspiration did not return with the loss of wealth, and Lin Zaishan could no longer find the joy he once felt in music, which made him even more miserable and led to heavy drinking and a more irritable personality.

At 30, when most men are supposed to be settled, Lin Zaishan suffered the greatest blow of his life—being imprisoned for severe assault in a fight.

He spent three years in prison.

The three years in prison meant he missed his grandfather's last moments, which deeply pained and affected him.

After his release, Lin Zaishan wanted to turn his life around and find the joy music once brought him, but his prolonged indulgence had drained all his inspiration, and he could no longer find his former self. Soon, he fell back into alcoholism, wasting away.

Three years ago, the appearance of his daughter Bai Ge was like a ray of dawn piercing the darkness of his life.

Bai Ge, now 19, was the result of a passionate period in Lin Zaishan's life when he was 18.

He had long forgotten what the female fan who bore her looked like.

Bai Ge said her mother's name was Bai Yun, but Lin Zaishan couldn't even remember that name.

During his three years of fame, his life was chaotic, with a new girlfriend almost every day, sometimes several in a day. He couldn't believe a woman would bear a child for a playboy like him.

After a paternity test confirmed Bai Ge was his daughter, Lin Zaishan became slightly more motivated. However, his motivation only extended to not getting into fights and causing trouble for his daughter.

Encouraged by Bai Ge, Lin Zaishan wanted to make a comeback, but the door to music had been closed to him. After three years of searching, he still couldn't find any inspiration.

Bai Ge grew up listening to Lin Zaishan's "The Wheat Field" and idolized her rock star father. In this world, besides her mother Bai Yun, she was probably the biggest fan of Lin Zaishan.

After her mother's death, she was the only one who still loved Lin Zaishan.

For the past three years, Lin Zaishan had locked himself in a rented apartment, using alcohol to stimulate his creativity. This lifestyle left him with almost no income, and he relied entirely on Bai Ge, who worked part-time to support him.

Bai Ge had no complaints about having a father who was almost a lost cause. Even when her mother died and she, a high school student, came to Lin Zaishan as her last relative, and he didn't want to acknowledge her, she had no complaints. Instead, she clung to Lin Zaishan, taking care of him and trying to inspire him with her actions.

Bai Ge's devotion was not just because of blood ties but also because her mother had instilled in her a firm belief from a young age: her father was the most handsome and talented musician in the world!

Bai Ge never doubted or wavered in this belief.

She firmly believed that her father's current state was temporary and that one day, he would write songs that would shake the music industry and regain all the glory he deserved!

Belief is like a bird that sings in the darkness before dawn.

For the former Lin Zaishan, Bai Ge was the bird that sang in the darkness of his life.

However, his dark life was too long, and he couldn't see a way out.

But change came in an instant, in a car accident.

The former Lin Zaishan was gone, and a new Lin Zaishan had arrived.

Now, browsing through the memories of the original owner, the new Lin Zaishan could clearly feel the love and guilt the original had for his daughter.

In his previous life, Lin Zaishan had no children and had never married, so he didn't know what it felt like to have a daughter.

But now, influenced by the original's memories, he genuinely felt that having a daughter like Bai Ge, who was both adorable and deeply trusting, was a great blessing in the original's unfortunate life. This feeling was even more wonderful than finding a soulmate.

Like the original, Lin Zaishan had also been pursuing his music dream in his previous life.

After graduating from the music conservatory, he struggled in the music industry for ten years, but like a dream that turned into a nightmare, at 32, he had nothing to show for it.

Looking back, he realized that the only thing he had gained was a stomach ulcer that woke him up in pain.

However, dreams are not something you can easily give up.

Even if the road ahead was long, he had no choice but to keep moving forward.

Now, in this new world, inspired by the original and encouraged by his daughter Bai Ge, Lin Zaishan's determination to pursue his dream was even stronger!

He would use music to create the best future for himself and his daughter Bai Ge!

He could not let her down.

While the future was undoubtedly challenging, the transformation could happen in an instant.

As long as the heart was not dead, a person could create miracles. And he had the wealth of an entire world of music.

Reflecting on this, Lin Zaishan suddenly remembered the song by Wan Xiaoli, "This Is Not As Bad As You Think."

His past life was not as bad as he thought;

His new life in this world was not as bad as he thought.

Seeing a folk guitar by his bedside—definitely brought by Bai Ge. Every time he was seriously ill and hospitalized, Bai Ge would bring this first folk guitar given to him by his grandfather to help him survive.

He had once said, "As long as the guitar is here, I will be here."

Bai Ge remembered that as long as the guitar was there, he would not die.

Seeing the guitar now, Lin Zaishan felt a warm feeling in his heart.

He picked up the guitar and tuned it professionally.

The guitar was well-tuned, and although it was nearly 20 years old, it was well-maintained.

With a sense of rebirth and reflection on life, Lin Zaishan played and sang "This Is Not As Bad As You Think" by Wan Xiaoli on his hospital bed—

...

On the day the storm came~

The lost lamb hasn't returned~

The blacksmith's shop rings with the sound of hammers~